Tesla Motors preps deployment of supercharger network

Nino Marchetti EARTHTECHLING, 5th June 2013

Tesla Motors continues to look to make it easier for owners of its vehicles to enjoy free, long distance driving in parts of the U.S. and Canada through its expanding Supercharger network.

The automotive manufacturer announced last week where new charging capability are being targeted shortly, and where it also expects to add additional chargers in coming months.

The company is “tripling” the number of its chargers by the end of June, adding new stations in California as well for “coverage of the northwest region from Vancouver to Seattle to Portland, Austin to Dallas in Texas, Illinois and Colorado. There will also be four additional eastern seaboard stations, expanding the density of the network.”

image via Tesla Motors

Beyond this, Tesla outlined that the Supercharger network, within six months, “will connect most of the major metro areas in the US and Canada, including expansion into Arizona, additional stations in Texas, Florida, and the Midwest, stations connecting Ottawa to Montreal, and across North and South Carolina into Georgia.” It is believed one will be able to travel “diagonally across the country from Los Angeles to New York” using only its chargers.

The range reportedly will be even greater within one year, as Tesla plans by then for chargers to cover “the entire population of the US and Canada.” Across its entire network, it envisions Model S drivers can travel for about three hours, followed by taking a half hour break to get back on the road fully charged again. This is made possible, the company said, by improving the technology behind the Tesla Supercharger so that the electric cars can be “charged at 120 kW, replenishing three hours of driving in just over 20 minutes.”

The current network, covering California and Nevada on the west coast and the Washington, DC to Boston region on the east coast, has “enabled an estimated 1 million miles of driving since going live in October 2012,” noted Tesla officials. The rollout of its expansion is reportedly being accelerated, likely because of increasing demand.